NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--It’s officially ‘back to school’ for thousands of students across the
country and Secret
Deodorant is committing to make this year ‘drama free’ with the
second year of its Mean
Stinks anti-bullying movement. In the second year of their program,
Secret is stepping up its efforts by teaming up with musical artist,
Demi Lovato as the new Mean Stinks ambassador, to inspire girls to “Gang
Up for Good.” Girls can join Demi in the movement to help bring an end
to mean behavior by taking the Mean Stinks pinky swear, by painting
their pinky nails blue in a show of peace and solidarity to keep
bullying out of their group of friends.

Kicking off a ‘drama free school year’ today, Demi surprised students at The
Young Women’s Leadership School (TYWLS), a college preparatory
all-girls public school founded by Ann Tisch in 1996, of East Harlem,
New York. The surprise took place during a special anti-bullying
assembly hosted by Secret Mean Stinks partner, girls’ relationship
expert and longtime TYWLS supporter, Rachel
Simmons. As an extension of the leadership development focus of
TYWLS, Rachel joined Principal Dr. Althea Tyson to educate 9th
grade students, an age often impacted by bullying, on the different
types of bullies and the roles every girl can play to bring an end to
it. Demi joined the assembly to share her personal experience on
overcoming bullying and met with a group of students to hear their
stories and discuss how they can “Gang Up For Good” to inspire change at
their school.

“I’ve teamed up with Secret Deodorant as their new Mean Stinks
ambassador because it’s important to me to use my voice to help end
bullying,” said Demi Lovato. “Urging young women to ‘Gang Up for Good’
is a really great way to inspire us all to change the way we think when
it comes to being a bully, witnessing bullying or being the victim of a
bully.”

Beginning in October, girls nationwide can join this year’s Mean Stinks
program by participating in a number of activities designed to educate
about, and stand up to, bullying in fun ways. Beginning in October,
National Bullying Prevention Month, a downloadable Mean Stinks “Gang Up
For Good” Kit will be available featuring lessons and a detailed
assembly plan for girls, schools and parents. For more information on
obtaining a kit, visit facebook.com/meanstinks.

Throughout this school year, @MeanStinks
will Tweet fun #GangUpforGood challenges to inspire girls with ways to
wipe-out mean and spread more nice, and create a national movement of
more gangs of good, starting within their circle of friends.

To help girls ‘stick-up’ against what really stinks, being mean,
and protect against the ‘stink’ caused by wetness and odor, Secret has
created new Secret
Mean Stinks Clinical Strength. As part of Secret’s commitment to
bring an end to girl-to-girl bullying, the brand will donate $1* from
every Mean Stinks Clinical Strength purchase to Girls
on the Run® to fund their girl empowerment programming and help
prevent mean behavior before it starts. Secret Mean Stinks Clinical
Strength is available at select major retailers nationwide and the P&G
E-store.

“Secret Mean Stinks stands against all mean behavior, and Demi Lovato,
as someone who has personally overcome bullying, truly embodies Secret’s
fearless spirit, making her the perfect Mean Stinks ambassador,” says
John Sebastian, Associate Marketing Director, P&G Personal Care. “We
know she will serve as an inspiration to girls across the country to
join forces to ‘Gang Up for Good.’”

Inspiring change is one piece of the puzzle, but to help keep bullying
and drama out of the equation long-term, P&G and Secret have formed a
relationship with leading researchers on youth social aggression at
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, awarding them a P&G grant
to develop an anti-bullying curriculum, with the intent to pilot it
select schools this coming year.

The most recent U.S. Department of Justice report
shows 30% of female students grades 6 – 12 were bullied at school or
cyber bullied during the 2009 – 2010 school year. “Girls can be just as
aggressive as boys, but they act out in much more subtle ways – often
resulting in ‘hidden aggression’ that devastates millions of young girls
while often going unnoticed by parents,” says Rachel Simmons. “Because
girls don’t feel they can show their anger directly, it often is
expressed in more secretive ways. By arming them with the proper tools
to guide their conversations with friends and peers, they can learn to
assert their feelings and resolve conflicts directly.”

For more information on the Mean Stinks movement and how girls and
schools can get involved and “Gang Up for Good,” join the conversation
on Twitter @MeanStinks
and visit the new Secret
Mean Stinks Facebook experience to find out the roles everyone plays
in ending mean behavior, learn more about the different types of
bullies, take the “Drama Free School Year” pledge, share your Mean
Stinks pinky swear and more.

*Donation from purchases up to $150,000

About P&G Beauty & Grooming

P&G Beauty & Grooming products help empowers men and women around the
world to look and feel better than they ever thought possible. With 11
billion dollar brands and products available in over 130 countries,
P&G’s beauty and grooming products delivered sales of over $38 billion
in fiscal year 2010/11, making it one of the world’s largest beauty and
grooming companies. P&G Beauty & Grooming offers trusted brands with
leading technology to meet the full complement of beauty and grooming
needs, including Pantene®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Max Factor®, Cover
Girl®, DDF®, Frederic Fekkai®, Wellaflex®, Rejoice®, Sebastian
Professional®, Herbal Essences®, Koleston®, Clairol Professional®, Nice
’n Easy®, Venus®, Gillette®, SK-II®, Wella Professionals®, Braun®,
Crest®, Oral B®, Always®, Tampax® and a leading Prestige Fragrance
division that spans from point of market entry consumers to high end
luxury with global brands such as Hugo Boss®, Lacoste®, and Christina
Aguilera®. Please visit http://www.pg.com
for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G (NYSE: PG) and
its brands.

About Young Women’s Leadership Network

YWLN is a 501c3 non-profit organization that empowers low-income
students to achieve their highest educational potential. In the
2012-2013 school year, YWLN will serve over 10,000 students in New York
City with our two life-changing programs, The Young Women’s
Leadership Schools, a high-performing network of all-girls public
secondary schools that provide a single-sex, college preparatory choice
to underserved families; and CollegeBound Initiative, a
year-round comprehensive college guidance program that works with every
student from the 6th-12th grades to ensure that
they have access to and can afford a college education. Please visit www.ywln.org
for more information.